Manchester United's route to the final saw them face Premier League opposition in every round except the Fifth, and also the last ever FA Cup semi-final replay, against the Cup holders from the previous season, Arsenal; Manchester United won the replay 2–1 after a 0–0 draw in the original match. Meanwhile, Newcastle beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–0 in their semi-final.

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Manchester United went into the match as champions of England, having clinched the Premier League title in their final game the previous weekend after losing just three league games all season.[1][2] They had also qualified for the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, due to be played four days later on 26 May, and were unbeaten in their previous 31 matches in all competitions.[3] By contrast, Newcastle United had finished 13th out of the 20 teams in the Premier League,[2] and had been knocked out of the Cup Winners' Cup in the first round[4] and the League Cup in the fourth round.[5]

It was Newcastle's second consecutive appearance in the FA Cup Final – having lost 2–0 to Arsenal in 1998 – and their 13th appearance overall.[6] They had a 50 percent record in their previous 12 finals, having won in 1910, 1924, 1932, 1951, 1952 and 1955.[6] Manchester United had a better record in their 14 previous final appearances, having won on a record nine occasions – in 1909, 1948, 1963, 1977, 1983, 1985, 1990, 1994 and 1996, the latter two having been part of "Doubles".[6] With victory in the 1999 final, Manchester United would become the first English club to win the Double on three occasions, and it would put them one win away from the Treble of league, cup and European Cup, a feat no English team had ever managed before.[3]

The two teams had met previously met 128 times in all competitions, with Manchester United winning 60 times, Newcastle United winning 37 times, and the remaining 31 finishing as draws.[7] Only two of those meetings occurred in the FA Cup: the first happened in the 1908–09 semi-final, when Manchester United won 1–0 at Bramall Lane in Sheffield on the way to their first FA Cup title, and the second in the Fifth Round of the 1989–90 competition, with Manchester United winning 3–2 at St James' Park before going on to win their seventh FA Cup.[7] Manchester United also came out on top in their two league meetings in the 1998–99 season, winning 2–1 at St James' Park on 13 March after playing out a goalless draw at Old Trafford on 8 November.[7]

As Premier League teams, both Manchester United and Newcastle United entered the 1998–99 FA Cup in the Third Round Proper, with Newcastle drawn at home to First DivisionCrystal Palace, and Manchester United at home to fellow Premier League side Middlesbrough, the last team to beat them all season. Despite having goalkeeper Shay Given sent off within the first 15 minutes and then going 1–0 down, Newcastle were able to come from behind to beat Crystal Palace in their tie,[8] while Manchester United also came from behind against Middlesbrough to win 3–1.[9]

Manchester United's victory set up a Fourth Round tie at home to arch-rivalsLiverpool, and Newcastle were paired with First Division Bradford City.[10] Newcastle won 3–0 to book their place in the Fifth Round,[11] while Manchester United again came from a goal down to beat Liverpool with two goals in the last two minutes of their tie.[12]

The Fifth Round saw Newcastle drawn at home to their first Premier League opposition of the tournament in Blackburn Rovers, whereas Manchester United were paired with their only non-Premier League opponents, Second DivisionFulham. A goal from Andy Cole saw Manchester United win 1–0 to progress to the Sixth Round,[13] but Newcastle were held to a goalless draw by Blackburn, forcing a replay. Newcastle's on-loan striker Louis Saha scored the only goal of the replay, and they were through to the last eight.[14]

Home draws in the Sixth Round for both teams ensured that they had both been drawn at home in every round of the competition, with Manchester United hosting Chelsea at Old Trafford and Newcastle hosting Everton at St James' Park. This time it was Newcastle who only needed one match to progress to the semi-finals, beating Everton 4–1 with goals from Temur Ketsbaia (2), Georgios Georgiadis and Alan Shearer.[15] Meanwhile, Manchester United were unable to make their numerical advantage count against Chelsea after Roberto Di Matteo was sent off, before Paul Scholes was sent off himself for Manchester United.[16] The match finished goalless and a replay followed three days later, with Dwight Yorke scoring in each half to give Manchester United a 2–0 win.[17]

As per tradition, the semi-finals were played at neutral venues; with Manchester United taking on rivals Arsenal at Villa Park in Birmingham, Newcastle were able to play their semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur at Old Trafford. Both semi-finals went to extra-time, but only Newcastle were able to produce a result on the day, as Shearer scored twice in the second half of extra time to send Newcastle to Wembley for the second consecutive year.[18] Manchester United's semi-final went goalless, although a goal from Roy Keane was ruled out for offside against Yorke after Ryan Giggs had played the ball to himself in the build-up, despite Yorke being nowhere near the ball at the time Giggs played it.[19]

The replay (the last semi-final replay in the history of the FA Cup) went down as one of the greatest games ever played. David Beckham opened the scoring with a curving shot past Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman from 22 yards, but Dennis Bergkamp equalised halfway through the second half, his shot deflecting off the knee of Jaap Stam. Nicolas Anelka had the ball in the back of the net for Arsenal again shortly afterwards, and the celebrations were well underway before anyone realised that the linesman had flagged Anelka offside before the goal was scored. Roy Keane then received a second booking and was sent off for a cynical foul on Marc Overmars, leaving Manchester United to play out the match with 10 men. The match was heading for extra time when Phil Neville made a tired challenge on Ray Parlour inside the penalty area; Bergkamp stepped up to take the penalty, but Peter Schmeichel guessed the direction of his kick correctly and it was at a good height for him to make the save. The first half of extra time passed without incident, before Patrick Vieira gave the ball away to Giggs at the start of the second; Giggs ran from just inside his own half, taking on four Arsenal defenders as he drove into the penalty area, then shot from a narrow angle over the head of Seaman into the roof of the Arsenal net. Manchester United hung on for the remaining 10 minutes to secure their place in the final.[20]

The teams line up for the national anthem and presentations ahead of the final.

Manchester United's team selection was dominated by the need to save several players for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich four days later. Midfielders Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were suspended for the Champions League final, so they were paired in central midfield for the FA Cup final as the swansong for their season; their deputy for the Champions League final, Nicky Butt, was left out of the matchday squad entirely to guard him against injury. Top scorer Dwight Yorke was dropped to the bench for a similar reason, while first-choice centre-back Jaap Stam was named among the substitutes to give him a chance to prove his fitness after an Achilles tendon injury. Denis Irwin missed the match due to suspension after being sent off against Liverpool in the Premier League on 5 May[21] and was replaced in the starting line-up by Phil Neville.[3] Several players, including Scholes, David Beckham and Gary Neville, were suffering from a flu virus in the lead-up to the game, and were still suffering the effects on matchday, but were all deemed fit enough to play.[22] Henning Berg was injured.

For Newcastle United, the FA Cup final was their final game of the season, meaning that they were uninhibited in their squad selection for the match. The biggest selection dilemma for manager Ruud Gullit was who to pick to play up front alongside captain Alan Shearer: Scottish forward Duncan Ferguson, who was due for an operation on his groin two days later, or Georgian Temur Ketsbaia. Ketsbaia ultimately got the job, with Ferguson named as a substitute. After marking David Ginola out of the game in their semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur, 20-year-old full-back Andy Griffin was selected on the right side of Newcastle's defence to perform a similar task against Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs.[3]

Newcastle's Nolberto Solano prepares to take a free kick on the edge of the Manchester United box.

The first half was full of incident, a volleyed shot on target from Nolberto Solano, a booking for Dietmar Hamann, and Teddy Sheringham replacing an injured Roy Keane all in the first eight minutes. Just over 90 seconds after the substitution, Manchester United took the lead. An incisive move, crafted first by Andy Cole then by Paul Scholes with a well-weighted first time ball allowed Sheringham to drift into the box and rifle a low drive under the Newcastle goalkeeperSteve Harper. Further chances fell to Ole Gunnar Solskjær, Cole and Sheringham in the first half, but all were unable to convert their efforts. Newcastle's best chance of the half fell to Hamann, a powerfully hit long-range effort just being diverted away from goal by Peter Schmeichel.[23]

Manchester United's players celebrate Paul Scholes' goal early in the second half to put them 2–0 up.

Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit, who knew the match was fading from his team, began the second half by replacing Hamann with Duncan Ferguson. Eight minutes into the half, Manchester United went 2–0 up. A long ball from Solskjær was chased by Ryan Giggs but he was beaten to it by Nikos Dabizas, who attempted to clear. Solskjær beat Didier Domi to Dabizas' clearance and passed to Sheringham on the edge of the penalty area. With his back to goal, Sheringham rolled the ball into the path of Scholes, who drilled it past Harper from 20 yards. Late in the game, Newcastle's Silvio Marić was one-on-one with Schmeichel but screwed his close-range effort wide of the Dane's right-hand post and the game finished 2–0 to Manchester United.[23]

After the match, Alex Ferguson praised Teddy Sheringham for his immediate impact after being brought on to replace Keane, saying: "Teddy was magnificent. He has proved a point today. He was the key to victory."[26] He also complimented David Beckham on his performance in central midfield after Keane's withdrawal: "Beckham took over Keane's role and was absolutely magnificent... People say that going to Barcelona without Roy Keane will be a major hurdle, but I don't think so now."[27] Ryan Giggs recognised the importance of scoring the first goal early in the game, saying: "It helped getting the early goal then the second. It was hard for Newcastle to get back into the game with the weather like that. After the quick goal we could relax and hit Newcastle on the break."[22] Meanwhile, Newcastle manager Ruud Gullit was pleased with the effort his players had put in, but bemoaned their mistakes allowing Manchester United an easy victory: "We were punished for our mistakes. The effort was right. The players worked hard and I can't ask for more, but every time we were on top we made a mistake and that cost us two goals. In the end we had to be thankful they did not get three, four or five."[22]

Some of Newcastle's fans were less magnanimous in defeat than their manager, as police in Newcastle reported more than 50 arrests related to violent conduct in the city centre following the match. A crowd of about 500 people had to be dispersed through the use of batons, dogs and horses. Similar incidents had been reported after Newcastle's cup final defeat in 1998, but Inspector Jerry Barker of Northumbria Police said the situation had been brought under control quicker than the previous year.[28]

Having claimed an unprecedented third Double in six seasons,[29] Manchester United went on to beat Bayern Munich in the Champions League final in Barcelona four days later to claim the Treble, a feat never before achieved by an English club.[30] Their FA Cup triumph would also have qualified them for the 1999 FA Charity Shield and the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup, but their position as league winners meant that they had already qualified for the Charity Shield and the higher-tier Champions League; therefore, the other place in the Charity Shield went to league runners-up Arsenal, while the UEFA Cup place usually reserved for the cup winners went to Newcastle as cup runners-up.

Manchester United were unable to defend their FA Cup title the following season, having instead been invited to compete in the inaugural FIFA Club World Championship in Brazil. The Football Association (FA) encouraged the club to take part in the new tournament as they believed it would help their bid to host the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Alex Ferguson initially suggested that The FA could allow his team a bye to a later round of the competition to help alleviate the fixture congestion that would arise from entering both competitions,[31] but the FA suggested that Manchester United simply pull out of the FA Cup altogether, putting the club in what chairman Martin Edwards called a "no-win" situation. Edwards said: "We're going to get criticised whatever we do. If we don't go people will say that we are selfish and only looking after ourselves and not prepared to help the 2006 World Cup bid. But we will also be criticised if we say we're not going to compete in the FA Cup."[32] The offer was also criticised by Manchester United fans, with Andy Walsh of the Independent Manchester United Supporters' Association saying: "They've shown very little offer of help in the past when United have looked to ease their fixture congestion. This blinding conversion is all to do with the 2006 campaign."[32]

The club ultimately accepted the FA's offer on 30 June,[33] but they were given until the date of the draw for the Second Round on 28 October to finalise that decision.[34] Their place in the Third Round was given to a "lucky loser", determined by drawing one team out of the 40 losers from the Second Round;[35] that team was Third DivisionDarlington, who were drawn away to Aston Villa.[36] Manchester United were knocked out of the Club World Championship at the group stage after losing to hosts Vasco da Gama and drawing with Mexican club Necaxa, their only victory coming against Australian representatives South Melbourne. Their misery was compounded by the suggestion from FIFA that their participation in the competition would have no bearing on the vote to host the 2006 World Cup,[37] which was ultimately won by the German Football Association.[38]

1.
Manchester United F.C.
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Manchester United Football Club is a professional football club based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Nicknamed the Red Devils, the club was founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to its current stadium, Old Trafford, in 1910. Manchester United have won a record 20 League Titles, a joint-record 12 FA Cups,5 League Cups, the club has also won three European Cups, one UEFA Cup Winners Cup, one UEFA Super Cup, one Intercontinental Cup and one FIFA Club World Cup. In 1998–99, the became the first in the history of English football to achieve the treble of the Premier League, the FA Cup. The 1958 Munich air disaster claimed the lives of eight players, in 1968, under the management of Matt Busby, Manchester United became the first English football club to win the European Cup. Alex Ferguson won 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles,5 FA Cups and 2 UEFA Champions Leagues, José Mourinho is the clubs current manager, having been appointed on 27 May 2016. As of June 2015, it is the worlds most valuable football brand and it is one of the most widely supported football teams in the world. In August 2012, Manchester United made a public offering on the New York Stock Exchange. The club holds several rivalries, most notably with Liverpool, Manchester City and Leeds United, Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Carriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway depot at Newton Heath. By 1888, the club had become a member of The Combination. Following the leagues dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Football Alliance and this resulted in the club starting the 1892–93 season in the First Division, by which time it had become independent of the railway company and dropped the LYR from its name. After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Second Division, in January 1902, with debts of £2,670 – equivalent to £260,000 in 2017 – the club was served with a winding-up order. The following season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield, Manchester United won the First Division for the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall left the club to join Manchester City. In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Division in 1934. Gibson, who, in December 1931, invested £2,000, in the 1938–39 season, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished 14th in the First Division. Busby led the team to second-place league finishes in 1947,1948 and 1949, in 1952, the club won the First Division, its first league title for 41 years. With an average age of 22, the title winning side of 1956 were labelled the Busby Babes by the media. In 1957, Manchester United became the first English team to compete in the European Cup, despite objections from The Football League, who had denied Chelsea the same opportunity the previous season

2.
Newcastle United F.C.
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Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne. Following the clubs most recent relegation from the top-flight during the 2015–16 season, Newcastle returned to the Football Leagues 2nd tier, the Championship, for the 2016–17 campaign. Newcastle United was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End and Newcastle West End, the ground was developed into an all-seater stadium in the mid-1990s and now has a capacity of 52,354. They have won four League Championship titles, six FA Cups and a Charity Shield, as well as the 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, Newcastle United has the ninth highest total of trophies won by an English club. The clubs most successful period was between 1904 and 1910, when they won an FA Cup and three of their First Division titles. The club were successful in the Premier League in the 1990s and early 2000s, but have been mostly struggling since the 2006–07 season. Newcastle has a local rivalry with Sunderland, and the two clubs have engaged in the Tyne–Wear derby since 1898. The clubs traditional kit colours are black and white striped shirts, black shorts and their traditional crest takes elements of the city coat of arms, which features two grey seahorses. The club has been owned by Mike Ashley since 2007, succeeding long term chairman, the club is the seventeenth highest revenue producing club in the world in terms of annual revenue, generating €169. 3m in 2015. Historically, Newcastles highest placing was in 1999 when they were the fifth highest revenue producing club in the world. The first record of football being played on Tyneside dates from 3 March 1877 at Elswick Rugby Club, later that year, Newcastles first football club, Tyne Association, was formed. The origins of Newcastle United Football Club itself can be traced back to the formation of a club by the Stanley Cricket Club of Byker in November 1881. This team was renamed Newcastle East End F. C. in October 1882, to avoid confusion with the club in Stanley. Rosewood F. C. of Byker merged with Newcastle East End a short time later, in 1886, Newcastle East End moved from Byker to Heaton. In August 1882, Newcastle West End F. C. formed from West End Cricket Club, and in May 1886, the two clubs became rivals in the Northern League. In 1889, Newcastle East End became a team, before becoming a limited company the following March. However, on the hand, Newcastle West End were in serious financial trouble. With only one club in the city for fans to support

3.
Wembley Stadium (1923)
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The Original Wembley Stadium was a football stadium located in Wembley Park, London. It stood on the now occupied by its successor, the new Wembley Stadium. The great Brazilian footballer Pelé once said of the stadium, Wembley is the cathedral of football and it is the capital of football and it is the heart of football in recognition of its status as the worlds best-known football stadium. It also hosted music events, including the 1985 Live Aid charity concert. The twin towers were an icon for England and Wembley, debris from the Original Wembley Stadium was used to make the award-winning Northala Fields in Northolt, Ealing. The stadiums first turf was cut by King George V, much of Humphrey Reptons original Wembley Park landscape was transformed in 1922–23 during preparations for the British Empire Exhibition of 1924–25. First known as the British Empire Exhibition Stadium or simply Empire Stadium, the stadium cost £750,000, and was constructed on the site of an earlier folly called Watkins Tower. The architects were Sir John Simpson and Maxwell Ayrton and the Head Engineer Sir Owen Williams, the stadium had gone into liquidation, after it was pronounced financially unviable. Elvin offered to buy the stadium for £127,000, using a £12,000 downpayment and they then immediately bought it back from Elvin, leaving him with a healthy profit. Instead of cash he received shares, which gave him the largest stake in Wembley Stadium, the electric scoreboard and the all-encircling roof, made from aluminium and translucent glass, were added in 1963. The stadiums distinctive Twin Towers became its trademark and nickname, also well known were the 39 steps needed to be climbed to reach the Royal box and collect a trophy. Wembley was the first pitch to be referred to as Hallowed Turf, in 1934, the Empire Pool was built nearby. The Wembley Stadium Collection is held by the National Football Museum, the stadium closed in October 2000, and demolition commenced in December 2002, completing in 2003 for redevelopment. The top of one of the towers was erected as a memorial in the park on the north side of Overton Close in the Saint Raphaels Estate. Wembley is best known for hosting football matches, having hosted the FA Cup Final annually as well as numerous England International fixtures, the Empire Stadium was built in exactly 300 days at the cost of £750,000. Described as the worlds greatest sporting arena, it was ready only 4 days before the White Horse Final in 1923, the FA had not considered admission by ticket, grossly underestimating the number of fans who arrived at the 104 gates on match day. However, after the game, every event, apart from the 1982 replay, was ticketed, the first event held at the stadium was the FA Cup Final on 28 April 1923 between Bolton Wanderers and West Ham United. This is known as the White Horse Final, the crowds overflowed onto the pitch as there was no room on the terraces

4.
London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area

5.
Teddy Sheringham
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Edward Paul Teddy Sheringham MBE is an English football manager and player who was the player-manager of Stevenage until he was sacked on 1 February 2016. Sheringham played as a forward, mostly as a second striker, Sheringham began his career at Millwall, where he scored 111 goals between 1983 and 1991, and is the clubs second all-time leading scorer. He left to join First Division Nottingham Forest, a year later, Sheringham scored Forests first ever Premiership goal, and was signed by Tottenham Hotspur. After five seasons at Spurs, Sheringham joined Manchester United where he won three Premiership titles, one FA Cup, one UEFA Champions League, an Intercontinental Cup, in 2001, he was named both the PFA Players Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. The pinnacle of his career came when he scored the equaliser, after leaving Manchester United at the end of the 2000–01 season, Sheringham re-joined Tottenham Hotspur, where he was a losing finalist in the 2001–02 Football League Cup. The following season, Sheringham appeared for West Ham in the 2006 FA Cup Final, Sheringham is currently the tenth-highest goalscorer in the history of the Premiership with 147 goals, and is the competitions 19th-highest appearance maker. He holds the record as the oldest outfield player to appear in a Premier League match, Sheringham was capped 51 times for the England national football team, scoring 11 times. He appeared in the 1998 and 2002 FIFA World Cups, as well as the 1996 UEFA European Championship, Sheringham retired from competitive football at the end of the 2007–08 season with Colchester United, at the age of 42. Having been appointed as the manager of Stevenage in May 2015, he registered himself as a player at the club in November of that year, aged 49. He was signed up, initially as an apprentice and scored on only his second appearance for the club in a match away at Bournemouth in January 1984. He was the top goalscorer in four seasons and played in every game of the season twice, in 1986–87. The 1987–88 season saw the club promoted to the First Division, then the highest tier of English league football, Sheringham scored the first goal in Millwalls first home game in Division One. Sheringham said in his autobiography, It was an exhilarating time. There we were, little Millwall, in our first season in the First Division, everybody said it couldnt last and of course it couldnt and it didnt, but we gave them all a good run for their money. We were beating the best teams when we shouldnt and getting away draws to which we had no right. Millwalls spell in the top flight was not to last as they were relegated in the following season, Sheringham was again top scorer for Millwall with twelve goals, having missed ten league games through injury. Sheringhams outstanding form during the 1990–91 season saw him finish as the leagues highest scorer with 37 goals, with Millwall failing to return to the top flight, a departure for Sheringham looked inevitable. In his final season at Millwall, Sheringham broke all of the goalscoring records

6.
Association football
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Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball. It is played by 250 million players in over 200 countries and dependencies making it the worlds most popular sport, the game is played on a rectangular field with a goal at each end. The object of the game is to score by getting the ball into the opposing goal, players are not allowed to touch the ball with their hands or arms while it is in play, unless they are goalkeepers. Other players mainly use their feet to strike or pass the ball, the team that scores the most goals by the end of the match wins. If the score is level at the end of the game, the Laws of the Game were originally codified in England by The Football Association in 1863. Association football is governed internationally by the International Federation of Association Football, the first written reference to the inflated ball used in the game was in the mid-14th century, Þe heued fro þe body went, Als it were a foteballe. The Online Etymology Dictionary states that the word soccer was split off in 1863, according to Partha Mazumdar, the term soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as an Oxford -er abbreviation of the word association. Within the English-speaking world, association football is now usually called football in the United Kingdom and mainly soccer in Canada and the United States. People in Australia, Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand use either or both terms, although national associations in Australia and New Zealand now primarily use football for the formal name. According to FIFA, the Chinese competitive game cuju is the earliest form of football for which there is scientific evidence, cuju players could use any part of the body apart from hands and the intent was kicking a ball through an opening into a net. It was remarkably similar to football, though similarities to rugby occurred. During the Han Dynasty, cuju games were standardised and rules were established, phaininda and episkyros were Greek ball games. An image of an episkyros player depicted in low relief on a vase at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens appears on the UEFA European Championship Cup, athenaeus, writing in 228 AD, referenced the Roman ball game harpastum. Phaininda, episkyros and harpastum were played involving hands and violence and they all appear to have resembled rugby football, wrestling and volleyball more than what is recognizable as modern football. As with pre-codified mob football, the antecedent of all football codes. Non-competitive games included kemari in Japan, chuk-guk in Korea and woggabaliri in Australia, Association football in itself does not have a classical history. Notwithstanding any similarities to other games played around the world FIFA have recognised that no historical connection exists with any game played in antiquity outside Europe. The modern rules of football are based on the mid-19th century efforts to standardise the widely varying forms of football played in the public schools of England

7.
1999 UEFA Champions League Final
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It is remembered for injury time goals from Manchester Uniteds Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjær, which cancelled out Mario Baslers early goal to give Manchester United a 2–1 win. Uniteds victory completed a season, after they had won the Premier League. Bayern were also playing for a treble, having won the Bundesliga and reached the DFB-Pokal final, although they went on to lose that match. Referee Pierluigi Collina has cited this match as one of the most memorable of his career, Manchester United and Bayern Munich had only met twice in competitive matches before the final, both meetings coming earlier in the 1998–99 season and both finished as draws. Including the victory over Leeds in 1975, Bayern Munich had won the European Cup on three occasions going into the 1999 final, with three victories in a row from 1974 to 1976, they became only the third team to achieve such a feat after Real Madrid and Ajax. They had also finished as runners-up twice, in 1982 against Aston Villa and 1987 against Porto, although Bayern had been waiting 23 years for a European Cup title, Manchester United had had to wait even longer, their only victory having come in 1968. Busby died in 1994, the day of the 1999 Champions League final would have been his 90th birthday, since neither Manchester United nor Bayern Munich had won their respective leagues in 1997–98, both sides faced a qualifier to enter the 1998–99 Champions League. Manchester United were drawn against Polish champions ŁKS Łódź and won 2–0 on aggregate, goals from Ryan Giggs, in the second leg, played at Partizans ground in Belgrade, an 88th-minute goal from Lothar Matthäus rescued a 1–1 draw to give Bayern a 5–1 win on aggregate. Matchdays 3 and 4 saw double-headers, with Manchester United taking on Brøndby, Manchester United beat Brøndby 6–2 in their first match at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, then 5–0 at Old Trafford two weeks later. Bayern also recorded a pair of victories over Barcelona, winning 1–0 at the Olympiastadion, on matchday 5, United played their second match against Barcelona – their first trip to the Camp Nou of the season – and again the two sides played out a 3–3 draw. With Bayern beating Brøndby 2–0 at home, the German side moved onto 10 points and took top spot in the going into the final round of matches. Qualification for the quarter-finals was only guaranteed for the group winners, the result meant that Bayern finished as group winners, but Uniteds points total was enough to see them go through as one of the two group runners-up with the best record. In the quarter-finals, Bayern Munich were drawn against Group F winners and fellow German side Kaiserslautern, while Manchester United were paired with Group C winners Internazionale. Two Dwight Yorke goals gave United a 2–0 win in their first leg at Old Trafford, while Bayern beat Kaiserslautern by the scoreline at the Olympiastadion through goals from Élber. In the second leg, Nicola Ventola pulled a back for Inter. Meanwhile, Bayern won convincingly at Kaiserslautern, as goals from Effenberg, Carsten Jancker, Mario Basler, a single goal from Mario Basler proved the difference between Bayern and Dynamo in the second leg, giving the Germans a 4–3 aggregate win. Manchester United fell behind early in Turin, as Filippo Inzaghi scored twice in the first 11 minutes, goals from Keane and Yorke before half-time levelled the tie but gave United the advantage on away goals, before Andy Cole secured victory with the winning goal seven minutes from time. The Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona, Spain, was selected as the venue for the final at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Lisbon, Portugal, on 6 October 1998

8.
Premier League
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The Premier League is an English professional league for mens association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football League, Welsh clubs that compete in the English football league system can also qualify. The Premier League is a corporation in which the 20 member clubs act as shareholders, seasons run from August to May. Teams play 38 matches each, totalling 380 matches in the season, most games are played on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, others during weekday evenings. It is colloquially known as the Premiership and outside the UK it is referred to as the English Premier League. The deal was worth £1 billion a year domestically as of 2013–14, with BSkyB, the league generates €2.2 billion per year in domestic and international television rights. In 2014/15, teams were apportioned revenues of £1.6 billion, the Premier League is the most-watched sports league in the world, broadcast in 212 territories to 643 million homes and a potential TV audience of 4.7 billion people. In the 2014–15 season, the average Premier League match attendance exceeded 36,000, most stadium occupancies are near capacity. The Premier League ranks third in the UEFA coefficients of leagues based on performances in European competitions over the past five seasons. While 47 clubs have competed since the inception of the Premier League in 1992, only six have won the title, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, the current champions are Leicester City, who won the title in 2015–16. Despite significant European success in the 1970s and early 1980s, the late 80s marked a low point for English football, the 1988 negotiations were the first signs of a breakaway league, ten clubs threatened to leave and form a super league, but were eventually persuaded to stay. As stadiums improved and match attendance and revenues rose, the top teams again considered leaving the Football League in order to capitalise on the influx of money into the sport. At the close of the 1991 season, a proposal was tabled for the establishment of a new league that would bring money into the game overall. The Founder Members Agreement, signed on 17 July 1991 by the games top-flight clubs, the argument given at the time was that the extra income would allow English clubs to compete with teams across Europe. The managing director of London Weekend Television, Greg Dyke, met with the representatives of the big five clubs in England in 1990. The meeting was to pave the way for an away from The Football League. The FA did not enjoy a relationship with the Football League at the time

9.
Arsenal F.C.
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Arsenal Football Club is a professional football club based in Highbury, London, that plays in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The club has won 13 League titles,12 FA Cups, Arsenal was the first club from the South of England to join The Football League, in 1893. They entered the First Division in 1904, and have accumulated the second most points. Relegated only once, in 1913, they continue the longest streak in the top division, in the 1930s, Arsenal won five League Championships and two FA Cups, and another FA Cup and two Championships after the war. In 1970–71, they won their first League and FA Cup Double, between 1989 and 2005, they won five League titles and five FA Cups, including two more Doubles. They completed the 20th century with the highest average league position, Herbert Chapman won Arsenals first national trophies, but died prematurely. He helped introduce the WM formation, floodlights, and shirt numbers, Arsène Wenger has been the longest-serving manager and has won the most trophies. His teams set several English records, the longest win streak, the longest unbeaten run, in 1886, Woolwich munitions workers founded the club as Dial Square. In 1913, the crossed the city to Arsenal Stadium in Highbury. They became Tottenham Hotspurs nearest club, commencing the North London derby, in 2006, they moved down the road to the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal earned €435. 5m in 2014–15, with the Emirates Stadium generating the highest revenue in world football, based on social media activity from 2014–15, Arsenals fanbase is the fifth largest in the world. In 2016, Forbes estimated the club was the second most valuable in England, on 1 December 1886, munitions workers in Woolwich, now South East London, formed Arsenal as Dial Square, with David Danskin as their first captain. Named after the heart of the Royal Arsenal complex, they took the name of the complex a month later. Royal Arsenal F. C. s first home was Plumstead Common, though spent most of their time in South East London playing on the other side of Plumstead. Royal Arsenal won Arsenals first trophies in 1890 and 1891, Royal Arsenal renamed themselves for a second time upon becoming a limited liability company in 1893. They registered their new name, Woolwich Arsenal, with The Football League when the club ascended later that year, Woolwich Arsenal was the first southern member of The Football League, starting out in the Second Division and winning promotion to the First Division in 1904. Falling attendances, due to financial difficulties among the munitions workers, businessmen Henry Norris and William Hall took the club over, and sought to move them elsewhere. In 1913, soon after relegation back to the Second Division, Woolwich Arsenal moved to the new Arsenal Stadium in Highbury and this saw their third change of name, the following year, they reduced Woolwich Arsenal to simply The Arsenal

10.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
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Tottenham Hotspur Football Club /ˈtɒtnəm, -tənəm/, commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English football club located in Tottenham, Haringey, London, that competes in the Premier League. The clubs home stadium is White Hart Lane and their newly developed training ground is in Bulls Cross on the northern borders of the London Borough of Enfield. Founded in 1882, Tottenham won the FA Cup for the first time in 1901, Tottenham were the first club in the 20th century to achieve the League and FA Cup Double, winning both competitions in the 1960–61 season. After successfully defending the FA Cup in 1962, in 1963 they became the first British club to win a UEFA club competition – the European Cup Winners Cup, in 1967, Spurs won the FA Cup for a third time in the 1960s. In the 1970s Tottenham won the League Cup on two occasions and were the winner of the UEFA Cup in 1972, becoming the first British club to win two different major European trophies. In the 1980s Spurs won several trophies, the FA Cup twice, FA Community Shield, in the 1990s the club won the FA Cup and the League Cup. When they won the League Cup once more in 2008, it meant that they had won a trophy in each of the last six decades – an achievement only matched by Manchester United. The clubs Latin motto is Audere est Facere, and its emblem is a cockerel standing upon a football, the club has a long-standing rivalry with nearby neighbours Arsenal, with head-to-head fixtures known as the North London derby. The club was formed in 1882, as Hotspur F. C. and played in the Southern League from 1896 until 1908, when they were elected into the Football League Second Division. Before this promotion Tottenham had won the FA Cup in 1901, since then, Tottenham have won the FA Cup a further seven times, the Football League twice, the Football League Cup four times, the UEFA Cup twice and also the UEFA Cup Winners Cup. The Cup Winners Cup victory in 1963 made Tottenham the first English team to win a UEFA competition, in 1960–61 they became the first team to complete The Double in the 20th century. Tottenham played their first matches at Tottenham Marshes on the public pitches. It was at this ground that Spurs first played archrivals Arsenal, there were occasions on which fights would break out on the marshes in dispute of the teams that were allowed to use the best pitches. Crowd sizes were regularly increasing and a new site was becoming needed to accommodate these supporters, in 1898 the club moved from the marshes to Northumberland Park and charged an admission fee of 3d. They only remained at this ground for a year as in April 1899,14,000 fans turned up to watch Spurs play Woolwich Arsenal. The ground was no able to cope with the larger crowds and Spurs were forced to move to a new larger site 100 yards down the road. The White Hart Lane ground was originally a disused nursery owned by the brewery Charringtons, the landlord spotted the increased income he could enjoy if Tottenham played their matches behind his pub and in 1899 the club moved in. They brought with them the stand they used at Northumberland Park which gave shelter to 2,500 fans, notts County were the first visitors to the Lane in a friendly watched by 5,000 people and provided in £115 in receipts, Spurs won 4–1

11.
2006 FIFA World Cup
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The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, teams representing 198 national football associations from all six populated continents participated in the qualification process which began in September 2003. Thirty-one teams qualified from this process, along with the host nation, Germany and it was the second time that Germany staged the competition, and the tenth time that it was held in Europe. Italy won the tournament, claiming their fourth World Cup title and they defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shootout in the final, after extra time had finished in a 1–1 draw. Germany defeated Portugal 3–1 to finish in third place, Angola, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Serbia and Montenegro, Trinidad and Tobago, and Togo made their first appearances in the finals. The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers. The final attracted an audience of 715.1 million people. The 2006 World Cup ranks fourth in non-unique viewers, behind the World Cup in 1994,2002, as the winner, Italy represented the World in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The vote to choose the hosts of the 2006 tournament was held in July 2000 in Zürich and it involved four bidding nations after Brazil had withdrawn three days earlier, Germany, South Africa, England and Morocco. Three rounds of voting were required, each round eliminating the nation with the least votes, the first two rounds were held on 6 July 2000, and the final round was held on 7 July 2000, which Germany won over South Africa. Accusations of bribery and corruption have marred the success of Germanys bid from the very beginning, on the very day of the vote, a hoax bribery affair was made public, leading to calls for a re-vote. Oceania delegate Charlie Dempsey, who had initially backed England, had then been instructed to support South Africa following Englands elimination and he abstained, citing intolerable pressure on the eve of the vote. Just a week before the vote, the German government under Chancellor Gerhard Schröder lifted their arms embargo on Saudi Arabia, daimlerChrysler invested several hundred million Euro in Hyundai, while one of the sons of the companys founders was a member of FIFAs executive committee. Both Volkswagen and Bayer announced investments in Thailand and South Korea, whose respective delegates Worawi Makudi, the sum of 6.7 million Euro was later demanded back by Dreyfus. In order to retrieve the money, the Organizing Committee paid an aquivalent sum to the FIFA, allegedly as a German share for the cost of a closing ceremony, the DFB announced they would consider seeking legal action against Der Spiegel. During a press conference on 22 October 2015, Nierbach repeated his stance, according to Niersbach, the payment had been agreed upon during a meeting between Franz Beckenbauer and FIFA president Blatter, with the money being provided by Dreyfus. On the same day, FIFA contradicted Niersbachs statement, saying, By our current state of knowledge, the following day, former DFB president Theo Zwanziger publicly accused Niersbach of lying, saying, It is evident that there was a slush fund for the German World Cup application. According to Zwanziger, the 6.7 million Euros went to Mohamed Bin Hammam, on 22 March 2016 it was announced that the FIFA Ethics Committee was opening proceedings into the bid

12.
FC Bayern Munich
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Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. commonly known as FC Bayern München, FCB, Bayern Munich, or FC Bayern, is a German sports club based in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. FC Bayern was founded in 1900 by 11 football players, led by Franz John, although Bayern won its first national championship in 1932, the club was not selected for the Bundesliga at its inception in 1963. The club had its period of greatest success in the middle of the 1970s when, under the captaincy of Franz Beckenbauer, overall, Bayern has reached ten European Cup/UEFA Champions League finals, most recently winning their fifth title in 2013 as part of a continental treble. Since the formation of the Bundesliga, Bayern has been the dominant club in German football with 26 titles and has won 8 of the last 12 titles and they have traditional local rivalries with 1860 Munich and 1. FC Nürnberg, as well as with Borussia Dortmund since the mid-1990s, since the beginning of the 2005–06 season, Bayern has played its home games at the Allianz Arena. Previously the team had played at Munichs Olympiastadion for 33 years, the team colours are red and white, and the team crest shows the white and blue flag of Bavaria. In terms of revenue, Bayern Munich is the biggest sports club in Germany, as of November 2016, Bayern has over 284,000 members. There are more than 4,000 officially-registered fan clubs with over 314,000 members, the club has other departments for chess, handball, basketball, gymnastics, bowling, table tennis and senior football with more than 1,100 active members. FC Bayern is ranked second in the current UEFA club coefficient rankings, FC Bayern Munich was founded by members of a Munich gymnastics club. Within a few months, Bayern achieved high-scoring victories against all rivals, including a 15–0 win against FC Nordstern. In the following years, the club won some trophies and in 1910–11 Bayern joined the newly founded Kreisliga. The club won league in its first year, but did not win it again until the beginning of World War I in 1914. In the years after the war, Bayern won several regional competitions before winning its first South German championship in 1926, an achievement repeated two years later. Its first national title was gained in 1932, when coach Richard Little Dombi Kohn led the team to the German championship by defeating Eintracht Frankfurt 2–0 in the final, the advent of Nazism put an abrupt end to Bayerns development. Club president Kurt Landauer and the coach, both of whom were Jewish, left the country, many others in the club were also purged. Bayern was taunted as the Jews club, while local rival 1860 Munich gained much support, josef Sauter, who was inaugurated 1943, was the only NSDAP member as president. As some Bayern players greeted Landauer, who was watching a friendly in Switzerland lead to continued discrimination, Bayern was also affected by the ruling that football players had to be full amateurs again. In the following years, Bayern could not sustain its role of contender for the national title, after the war, Bayern became a member of the Oberliga Süd, the southern conference of the German first division, which was split five ways at that time

Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that …

Harry Hampton scores one of his two goals in the 1905 FA Cup final against Aston Villa

Kevin Keegan (pictured in his second spell in 2008) guided Newcastle to promotion and Champions League football from 1992 to 1997, turning United into one of the biggest clubs in England despite not winning the league

Newcastle made an immediate return to the top-flight in 2010 after their relegation the year prior.